
Glass E 44 , 
Book >, fy 3 S, 






Vat 



REMARKS 



SLAVERY, 



OCCASIONED 



BY ATTEMPTS MADE 



CIRCriiATE IMPROPER PUBLIC ATIOIVS 



KMt Souttvetn Statesi* 



BY A CITIZEN OF GEORGIA 



'7 



SECOND EDITION. 



AUGUSTA: 

PRINTED FOR THE PUBLISHER. 

1835. 



REHIARKS, &c. 



A NUMBER of publications have recently been sent to this place, 
and to other places at the South, by some of the Aboliliou Associa- 
tions at the North, for the purpose of distribution. One of these papers 
was phiced in my hands by a person to whom it was directed — and 
though it has since been returned to the quarter from wlience it 
came, yet I deem it not improper to mal<e a few remarks upon tiie 
subject to which it related ; especially as all those wilh whom I am 
associated in life, have, in this subject, an important interest. It 
seems somewhat extraordinary, that any set of rational men, in this 
etdightened age, should be so regardless of the ordinary courtesies 
of life, as to desire to interrupt the harmony and quiet of an unof- 
fending people, who are legally pursniiig their own business, within 
their own limits, without any disposition to interfere with the organi- 
zation of society in any other section of country but their own. 
There certainly seems very little in the conduct of the Abolition 
Societies at the North, to recommend them to the favourable regard 
of the inhabitants of tills quarter. They seem to speak and to act, 
as though they imagined that an entire revolution in the state of 
society here, would l)e a matter of but little consequence, if such an 
event could be brought about through their instrumentality. They 
speak of slavery as a system of iniquity, at variance with the reveal- 
ed will of God, and a continued violation of his moral law — they de- 
nounce it as a practical denial of the declaration, that God made of one 
blood all the inhabitants of the world, and as a disregard of the 
rules prescribed for the intercourse of men with one another. In 
utter disregard of the principle that the regulation of slavery be- 
longs exclusively to those amongst whom it exists, these officious 
intermeddlers take upon themselves to pronounce it an evil of se- 
rious magnitude, and then assume to themselves a right to remove 
it, either with, or without the consent of those whose interests are 
to be affected by their proceedings; and they |)ursue their object 
in violation of the ordinary maxims of moderation or prudence. 

Whatever may be the circumstances connected wilh slavery — 
that it is neither a violation of the moral law, nor at variance with 
the revealed will of God, appears to me capable of demonstration; 
and, in support of this opinion, I take the liberty of subnntting ihe 
following remarks. It will, on all hands, no doubt lie agreed, that 
the Bible alone contains the revealed will of God — that we are to 
look in that Holy Book for the moral law. I will therefore lake the 
liberty of inquiring how far slavery recei<^es the sanction of this 



[ 4 ] 

high authority ; for beyond the support it receives from this, it would 
be needless to attempt to vindicate or defend it. 

In an enquiry into the origin of slavery, I should not be inclined 
to go further back in the history of the world, than to the interest- 
ing period when, on the subsiding of the waters of the Deluge, the 
Ark of Noah rested upon the mountains of Ararat. From that time, 
the moral characters of tiiose who had been miraculously preserved 
from the general destruction of the human race, began gradually 
to be developed, and a foundation was thus laid for the diversified 
orders of society, which the subsequent peopUng of the world has 
presented. 

At an eventful period in the life of Noah, some years after the 
flood, we find that Patriarch, who had long been a preacher of righ- 
teousness, uttering, in the language of prophetic inspiration, the fol- 
lowing prediction in relation to the future condition of his family: 
" Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his bre- 
thren; (and he said) Blessed be the Lord God ofShem, and Canaan 
shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell 
in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." By this 
prophetical denunciation the inheritance of Canaan wus servitude — 
"a servant of servants shall he be" — to the most degraded species 
of servitude was he subjected. The blessing of God and the bless- 
ings of freedom were pronounced upon Shem and Japheth, and to 
each of them Canaan was inevitably doomed to be a servant. Here, 
then, when there was but a single family upon earth, the inherit- 
ance of slavery was entailed upon one branch of it. And though 
" God made of one blood all the nations of the earth," or though, 
rather, all nations proceeded from one family, yet it is clearly and 
undeniably evident, that, from this period, God did not direct that one 
condition slioukl be the portion of all. For the blessings of freedom 
were secured beyond the possibility of change to two branches of 
the family — the condition of slavery was unalterably the portion of 
another. That the prediction of Noah was uttered under the influ- 
ence of the spirit of inspiration— that it looked to the dispersion and 
subsequent circumstances of his family, is not, as far as I know, 
questioned by any one — his language was that of prophesy — a pro- 
phesy which was certainly to be fulfilled, and which has been thus 
far demonstrably accomplished. Whatever difficulties there may be 
in this portion of scripture, the prophesy or prediction, with regard 
to the different conditions of the three brniiches of Noali's family, is 
clear and explicit. From Noah's family tlie world has been peo- 
pled — from the branch of it, whose inheritance was slavery, were 
descended the nations the Israelites were commanded to destroy, 
and the African race. The general state and condition of the de- 
scendants of Canaan, being foretold by the spirit of inspiration, when 
there was but a single family upon earth, and v»hen there could be 
no error as to v.-hora the predicts;;!! applied, could not Imve been 
changed or altered: the propliesy 7misl have been fulfilled, and the 
!-■"-• present d- - ' ■- •-="";• !o '".-■ truth: 



[ 5 ] 

and however the condition of those who were thus doomed to ser- 
vitude may be mehorated by the mihl discipline and broUierly love 
which the Gospel is intended to introduce, there is no absolute cer- 
tainty, that, to the prediction itself, with all its consequences, there 
is any limitation. 

Many years after the prophesy of Noah, and when the children of 
men had greatly increased in numbers and wickedness, it pleased 
God, in the exercise of Ins sovereign will, to call Abraliam from 
"his associates in idolatry," that he might make of him "a great 
nation," and that "In him all the families of the earth should be 
blessed." And he was pleased to make acovernmt with Abraham, 
and to ratify it by a singular and sealing ordinance, which he and his 
posterity must "observe as a pledge and mark of their l)eing the 
worshippers and servants of Jehovah." In giving directions in re- 
lation to the administrati');! of this ordinance, a distinction was made 
by the Almighty himself, between the descendants of tlie favoured 
branches of Noah's family who were the ancestors of Abraham, 
and those of the branch doomed to servitude by the prophesy be- 
fore noticed. The distinctiori is that made between the children 
of Abraham, born in his house, and those bought with money, 
who were not of his seed. All the male children of Abraham's 
family, born in his house, or bought with his money, says the 13th 
verse of tlic 17th chapter of Genesis, must needs be circum- 
cised, and tlie covenant was to be in their flesh, " for an ever- 
lasting covenant:" and in conformity with this direction, we are in- 
fermcd in tlie 24th and 27t!i verses of the same chapter, that in the 
same day Abraham was circumcised and his son Ishmael, and all 
the men of his house, born in the house, "and bought with money 
of the stranger.'''' The command given by God himself to Abraham 
on this subject, and the obedience rendered to it, evidence clearly 
that it was then customary, as it had no doubt been long before, for 
servants to be purchased with money — they were then l)ouf,ht and 
sold as they are at this day. When the Almighty calknl Abraham 
to become the fatiier of the faithful, and tlie head of his Church, he 
would have required him to relinquish his controul over the serv- 
ants he \\m\ purchased, if his owinng or possessing them as proper- 
ty had been contrary to the divine will, or atvari:ince with the ex- 
emplary character Abraham was to sustain; but instead of this, di- 
rections are given in relation to t!\pse dependant members of his 
family, and a sanction is given to tlieir continuance in their inferior 
condition. Rut while they were continued in Abraham's family with 
all their ciml disabilities, they were made capable of enjoyitig the 
moral and religious advantages which Abraham had himself become 
possessed of, by the covenant established with him. This is an In- 
teresting and important fact, connected with the calling of the great 
founder and head of the Jewish Church. It was permitted in the 
order of Providence, that the condition of slavery should be conti- 
nued—that servants might be bonglit and sold ; but though they 
were thus lowered, as to certain civil and political rights, the Di- 



[ 6 ] 

vine benevolence so directed, that this circumstance should not oc- 
casion to them any moral or religious disability. They might be 
introduced into the Church of God by its initiatory riglits, and be 
partakers of its sealing ordinances, and might therefore be, as to 
their eventual and final condition, on a footing of perfect equality 
with their owners. Abraham might buy his servants, and lie did 
buy them; but while he thus obtained the benefit of their services 
upon eartii, he was to favour their instruction in religious truth, and 
be instrumental in their introduction to the Church of God, and the 
covenant established with them was to be an earnest or pledge of 
their everlasting happiness. They were to serve their owners up- 
on earth, and v/ere required to serve them with fidelity; but to the 
joys of the upper world, they and their owners were made capable 
of behig admitted in precisely the same way, on exactly the same 
terms, through the same propitiatory sacrifice, and by the same 
faithful performance of the duties devolving upon them in their re- 
spective stations. The condition of servitude was evidently recog- 
nized in the earliest ages of the Church, but servants had abundant 
cause of gratitude for the kindness shown them by their heavenly 
Father, who assigns to all their respective stations in life, and who, 
though he saw fit to allot to them an inferior situation in a world of 
trial and of perj)etual changes, yet did not thereby in any degree 
deprive them of those spiritual consolations, which are altogether 
independent of our earthly condition, and which they might enjoy 
equally with those to whom they owed civil ohecWence. Their mo- 
ral characters were in no respect lowered : they might rather be 
exalted in consequence of their civil condition ; and they might, in 
a faithful discharge of duty, look forward with the same confidence 
their owners might do in consequence of similar fidelity, to those 
rewards of a well-spent life, which should be of endless duration. 

In the 20th chapter of Genesis, we have an account of Abraham's 
sojourning in Gerar, and of his imprudence in pretending that his 
wife was his sister merely; and, in the 14th verse of that chapter, 
we find that after Abraham had been rebuked for his indiscretion, 
that the king of Gerar " took sheep and oxen, and men servants and 
women servants," and gave them to Abraham. The present was 
no doubt intended as an atonement for what the king was sensible 
had been improper in his conduct, though he had done no actual in- 
jury; but the transaction evidences that men servants and women 
servants were given away or sold, with as little ceremony as oxen 
or sheep were; for slavery existed in Gerar as it did in otiier places, 
and servants were there, as in other places, considered a part of a 
man's property or possessions. The present of servants was, in this 
case, as readily received, as it was freely offered. 

In the 24th chapter of Genesis, we have an account of the mea- 
sures taken by Abraham for the settlement of his son Isaac in life. 
In reflecting on this subject, it became a matter of much solicitude 
to the parent, that a suitable companion should be selected for his 
son, and particularly that he should not become connected with one 



[ 7 ] 

of the idolatrous women of Canaan. He therefore directed an old 
servant, who had been many years in his family, and whom he had 
probably purchased in his younger days, to take the necessary n)ea- 
sures fur obtaining a wife for Isaac, from amongst some of his dis- 
tant kindred, who were, like himself, worshippers of the oidy living 
and true God. Tiie servant accordingly went into the land of Me- 
zopotamia, and endeavoured, by a prudent course of conduct, to 
bring the important business with which he was entrusted, to a hap- 
py termination. In the over-ruling Providence of God, it was so 
directed that an interview soon took place between the servant of 
Abraham and a female named Rebecca, who was found to be re- 
lated to Abraham, and who, the servant readily concluded, would be 
a suitable companion for his master's son. tinder the pious influ- 
ence with which he had long been familiar in the family to which 
he belonged, he " blessed the Lord," who had thus far directed and 
prospered him in his journey, and he soon, in simple and appropri- 
ate terms, disclosed to the damsel the ol)ject of his visit to that sec- 
tion of country, and let her know that his purpose was to obtain for 
the son of his master a bosom companion. And in the belief that 
his object would be attained, if she would favour his views, he 
made a brief statement of his own situation in Abraham's family, 
and of his master's circumstances, and of the eligible connection 
she would form in consenting to the proposed alliance. In the lan- 
guage of gratitude and of piety, he stated that " the Lord had great- 
ly blessed his master," and that he had become great: "He has," 
said he, "given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men 
servants, and maid servants, and camels and asses." The interview 
termiiiated to the servant's satisfaction. Rebecca was not insensi- 
ble to the advantages of the connection proposed to her, and was 
not disposed to reject an offer presented, as she thought, under the 
guidance of an over-ruling Providence, and she became soon after 
the wife of Isaac. It is obvious here, that the possession of men 
servants and maid servants were enumerated as amongst the bless- 
ings from the Lord, as well as the flocks and the herds, the silver 
and the gold, with which Abraham was enriched. Nor is any inti- 
mation given, that Rebecca hesitated to become the wife of Isaac 
on account of his being, or his father's being a slave-holder; nor 
did she seem to consider the moral character of either of them as 
affected by that circumstance. Whether her own family had been 
always accustomed to the possession of men and women servants, 
may not be certain — from her going to draw water for the flocks, 
and the readiness with which she drew for the camels of Abraham's 
servant, it would seem, that, in conformity to the custom of that 
time and country, she would not depend upon others to do for her, 
that which she could perform for herself— nor did she seem to no- 
tice the apparent want of politeness in the servant of Abraham, in 
not offering to assist in drawing the water which he himself needed. 
The reason he did not, resulted, no doubt, from his desire to obtain 
unequivocal evidences of the leadings of Providence, in the meet- 



[ 8 ] 

ing between him and the beautiful female, who he fondly hoped 
was to become a member of his master's family. 

In process of time, Rebecca became the mother of Jacob, who, 
amidst the vicissitudes of an eventful life, was the peculiar object of 
the divine care ; and we find it recorded in the 43d verse of the 30th 
chapter of Genesis, that "he increased exceedingly, and had much 
cattle, and 7Ren servants and maid servants, 2l\\(\ camels and asses." 
It is well known to those who read the Bible, how frequently the 
Lord declares himself to be " the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of 
Jacob," and how these patriarchs became the heads and founders, 
under God, of that Church in which the true worship of Jehovah 
was to be preserved, and from which the Gospel has been trans- 
mitted to the present period. Yet all these persons were slave- 
owners, and slave-holders, either by purchase or inheritance, or 
both. Slaves were enumerated amongst their possessions, as sil- 
ver and gold, and camels and asses were; and as amongst the 
blessings bestowed upon them. And there is no intimation, I be- 
lieve, made, that the holding of this species of property was impro- 
per, or that slavery v/as at variance with the arrangements of Di- 
vine Providence. 

After the descendants of these patriarchs, or rather after the 
children of Jacob had suffered the oppressions of Egypt for many 
years, and the Lord had resolved to deliver tliem, we find, in the 
directions given for the observance of the Passover, the same dis- 
tinctions made, between the servants bought ivith money and the 
other servants, that had been made several Imndred years before 
in the family of Abraham — for, it may be recollected, that the ser- 
vants bought with money by Abraham, were to be made members 
of the Jewish Church, by its regularly instituted ordinance, because, 
they being the property of Abraham, he was responsible for them, 
and they became sharers in his religious privileges; but hired ser- 
vants were on a different footing — they could claim a sort of quali- 
fied independence of those who hired them, and to whom they owed 
no permanent obedience. So, when the children of Jacob, or as 
they were now called, the children of Israel, were about to be de- 
livered from Egypt, it is said, in the 44th verse of the 12th chapter 
of Exodus, that "every man's servant ihai was bovght for money, 
when thou hast circumcised liim, then shall he eat of the Passover; 
a foreigner or a hired servant shall not eat thereof" These regu- 
lations all seem to indicate, th.at important duties rest upon those 
who are the owners of servants, either by purchase or inheritance, 
as to the religious instruction to be given them, in order to prepare 
them for becoming membcis of the Churcli of God. In the direc- 
tions relative to the sacramental feasts, the distinction is constantly 
made between hired servants, p. r.d servants ^oz//;/// witfi money; 
and the more dependant condition of the latter seems proportiona- 
bly to increase the responsibility of those who own them. No inti- 
mation seems to be giveit, thai. W.e buying of servants is improper, 
but the due discharge of duty to\\ aids tlien^ is impeiiously enjoined. 



[ 9 ] 

In the 21st chapter of Exodus, many directions are given relative 
to slaves. Most of these, no doubt, refer to Hebrew slaves, who 
were, in many respects, differently silualeil IVom the slaves pur- 
chased of other nations; but the distinction between the two is 
strongly marked in the 20th and 21st verses, where it is <ieclared 
that, "if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he 
die under his hand, he shall surely be l)uni^■hed," but " if he con- 
tinue a day or two, he shall not be punished, /or hv is his money.'''' 
The wanton destruction of the life of a slave was considered like a 
similar outrage upon any otiier individual, as murder, and was pu- 
nished as such. But the law scarcely supposed that any owner of 
a slave would voluntarily subject himself to the loss of his value, by 
taking away his life, though lie might accidentally incur such a mis- 
fortune by imprudence ; lie might give his slave moderate correc- 
tion, for misconduct, witii iminniity, but if in doing this he exceeded 
the bounds of moderation, and death ensued, he should be punish- 
ed; but if the unfortunate stroke which hapjiened to prove fatal, 
was ratlier the result of accident than intention, and the slave lived 
a day or two after the chastisement given, the master should not 
then be punished, because tiie slave was his money, whose life the 
master would have been interested in preserving, and whose loss 
was a pecuniary punishment to him, for his indiscretion or violence. 
This law was not greatly different from the law existing amongst us 
at the present day, in relation to the government of slaves — the own- 
ers may punish them for misconduct, and that with some severity, 
if they "are inconsiderately inclined to do so; but, if under such pu- 
nishment the slave should actually die, the owner would assuredly 
be made answerable therefor, according to the circumstances of the 
case, whether it should turn out to be murder, or manslaughter, or 
excusable homicide. 

The ciiildren of Israel, who were the peculiar and chosen people 
of God, were not to buy or sell into perpetual servitude the child- 
ren of each other— they were all members of one great privileged 
family, and could only sell themselves or their children for ;i limited 
period; but for a limited period even the Hebrew children might be 
sold and kept in bondage to each other. But the Israelites were 
permitted and directed'^to buy their slaves of the nations round about 
them. In the 25th chapter of Leviticus, 44th, 45th and 4Glli verses, 
are the following directions on this subject:— " Both thy bond men 
and thy bond maids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen 
that are round about you- of them shall ye buy bond men and bond 
maids .-" moreover, of the children of strangers that sojourn among 
you, of them shall ye buy, and of their faniilies that are with you, 
which they begat in vour land, and they shall be your posse.«sion. 
And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your ciiildren after you 
to inherit them for a possession ; they shall' be your bondmen for 
ever: "but over your brethren of the children of Israel, ye shall 
not rule, one over another with rigour." Here are directions given 
for the purchase of slaves, and tJie designation of the period for 



[ 10 ] 

wliich lliey iuight be lield in servitude — they should be purchased 
for an inheritance for the childreji of tlie purchaser, and they should 
hUierit them for a possession, and they should be bond servants /or 
ever. This is a period of servitude as extensive as can be found in 
any of the slave-holding states of the Union. It intimates a conti- 
nuance of servitude in the person to who n it applies during the en- 
tire period of tiis earthly existence — for a longer period no one 
could desire to have control over this species of property. 

The iVn Commandments, delivered with awful solemnity from 
Mount Shiai, and which are justly considered as the great outlines 
of the Holy Law of God, are intended, in their injunctions and di- 
rections, to be of universal obligation, to embrace the various classes 
of society — the rich and the poor — masters and servants — parents 
and children. The fourth commandment, and the tenth, suppose a 
state of servitude to exist amongst those to whom they are directed. 
In the fourth, in which an observance of the Sabbath is enjoined, it 
is declared, " Six days shalt thou labour, but the seventh is the Sab- 
bath of the Lord," in it thou shalt not do any work, " thou, nor thy 
son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor 
thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates," &c. And in 
the tenth, it is said, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, 
thou shalt not covet thy neighbc-ur's wife, nor his man servant, 
nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that 
is his." In both of these commandments the condition of slave- 
ry is evidently supposed to exist in the same way it did in the 
time of Abraham, and in all subsequent periods to the time the 
command was given, and they seem to look forward to the con- 
tinuance of that condition for as long a time as the obligatory na- 
ture of the command shall endure. The head of the family is to en- 
join the observance of the Sabbath upon his children and servants, 
and all are forbidden to covet the servants of others. 

We find in the 25th chapter of the 1st of Samuel, that David, in 
a period of distress, sent a respectful request to Nabal for a supply 
of provisions ; but Nabal very churlishly replied to the messengers, 
"who is David, and who is the son of Jesse'? There be many ser- 
vants no\v-a-days that break away every man from his master." — 
The rude and contemptuous reply of Nabal, evidences that the 
owning slaves at that period was not oidy common, but that disor- 
derly ones were to be found amongst them, inasmuch as he was so 
indecorous as to charge David and his messengers with being run- 
away slaves. 

We find there were servants engaged with the Jews in rebuilding 
the walls of Jerusalem ; for Neliemiah says, in the 16th verse of the 
4th chapter, that the half of his servants wrought in the work, and 
so earnestly did they work, that he says, in the 2.jd verse, that nei- 
ther he nor his brethren nor his servants put off their clothes, &c., 
and in the 22d verse of the same chapter, it is said of those from 
the adjacent villages, that "everyone wMh his servant 9,\\o\\V\\o(\ge 
within Jerusalem ;" and in the IGth verse of the 5th chapter, Ne- 



[ 11 ] 

hemiah says, that " rt// his Sf^rcanfs were gdUwnng IhiUier to the 
work," even to the neglect, probably, of some of his private business. 

The Book of Job is, in all probability, as olil as any of the Hooks 
of Moses ; and Job himself, was, it is likely, in his prosperity long 
before the children of Israel left Egypt — he was pronounced by the 
Almighty to be a perfect and an upright man, and i.herc is conclu- 
sive evidence that he was the owner of a great number of slaves 
— some of them we find were destroyed by fire, and many of tliem 
were slain by the Sabeans and Clialdeans, in tliose various misfor- 
tunes with which Job was overwhelmed. In the course of his suf- 
ferings. Job speaks of the negligence of his servants towards him, 
,thougti t!iey had been accustomed to treat him with reverence and 
respect in the days of his ju-osperily ; and, in a restless impatience 
under his sufferings, he wished that he had never been born, or that 
lie migiit have been early consigned to the grave, where he says, 
" the prisoners rest together, a. id the servant is free from his mas- 
ter.'" The expressions here convey the idea that the rest of the 
grave was the only freedom from servitude, which many slaves 
could expect, or would ever experience — for they would be in bond- 
age during their whole lives — a condition to which, in the order of 
Providence, they were subjected in the present state ; l)ut the con- 
dition they were placed in here was of but a temjjorary nature — 
they were hastening to the grave, where the rich and the poor, the 
small and the great, the master and the servant, would all be on a 
footing, all would then be free from tem[)oral calamity ; and if they 
had been faithful in the discharge of their respective duties, from 
the rest o^ the grave they might hoj)e to rise to everlasting joy. 

We find in the 24th chapter of Jeremiah, that king Zedekiah 
made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem, that every man 
should let "his man servant or maid servant, being a Hebrew or 
Hebrewess, go free, as they had served out the time for which the 
Jews could hold each other in bondage. And it appears that the 
princes and the people let the Hebrew servants go free ; but after 
having done this, they again brought them into subjection, contrary 
to the law of God in regard to Hebrew servants, and for this con- 
duct they were severely ])unishe(l. The same authority wliicii au- 
thorized the linntcd servitude of Hebrew slaves, authorized the per- 
petual servitude of others, and none but Jewish servants were em- 
braced in the covenant of king Zedekiah, and that covenant was to 
carry into eff'ect the known law of the Jewish nation. 

David and Solomon both speak of slaves and slavery as a kiiown 
and recognized condition in society : "the king's favour (says Solo- 
mon) is towards a wise servant;" and again he says, "a servant will 
not be corrected by words." And David says, "as the eyes of 
servants look unto "the hands of their masters, and the eyes of a 
maiden to her mistress, so our eves wait upon the Lord our God," Lc. 
T If we pass from the Old to tlie New Testament, we shall find a 
perfect coincidence on this subject in the two dispensations. I am 
not aware of any expression in the New Testament, forbidding in- 



L 12 J 

dividuals to hol.l slaves, or requiring the owners of slaves to eman- 
cipate them. Many directions are given to masters as to their treat- 
ment of their slr.ves, and to slaves as to the fidelity with which their 
duties should be performed ; but no intimation is given, that it is ne- 
cessary the relutionships between masters and servants should be 
dissolved, nor is any direction given by Christ himself, as far as I 
know, that sucli relationships should be terminated. In the Gospel, 
as under the Abraiiamic cov^enant, servants are invited to become 
partakers of those spiritual privileges with wliich their everlasting 
interests are connected. But it is nowhere intimated, that these 
important interests will be advanced, by their neglect of the duties 
attached to their civil condition, or that those duties can be omitted 
or neglected, consistently v.ith the requisitions of the Christian dis- 
pensation. Paul, who was a most faithful Apostle, gives directions 
to servants, wlio have believing masters, how to conduct towards 
them, and also how to behave towards those who were not believ- 
ers ; their civil duties were, in either case, to be duly performed, 
whatever might be the religious character of their ow^ners. Had 
there been any thing immoral or improper in holding or owning 
slaves, is it to be supposed there would not liave been found some- 
thing in the Apostolic writings condemning itl 1 am aware of the 
arguments founded on the reciprocal duties which individuals owe 
to each other, and while allowing, in their utmost latitude, the divine 
injunctions on this subject, I still say, that there is nothing in them, 
in my view, wh.ich requires the owner of a slave to liberate him, or 
which forbids his being continued in bondage. If slavery is abso- 
lutely unlawful, there must be some express proliibition of it in 
scripture : if no such prohibition is to be found, it would seem that 
its unlawfulness could not be easily demonstrated. That it might 
be generous in tlie owner of a slave to liberate him, no one would 
question, even if the slave were not benefitted thereby ; but whe- 
ther it is the duty of an individual to do this, is another matter. 
Acts of duty and acts of generosity may have their origin in very 
different principles. What the Gospel requires, it i? our duly to do : 
the authority of that is urq'iestionable. 

In the time of Christ an'l his Apostles, tiie slavery ex-sting then 
was similar to that found in our country ;U the present period, ex- 
cept that it was in many respects more severe ; but there was then 
no crusade instituted against it. T'ne Apostles did not go forth and 
organize Abolition Societies, or attempt to disturb the civil relations 
of men, under jiretence that the order of tilings, which under God 
had been established, must l)e overturned. They preached the Gos- 
pel to masters and servants, and promised its rewards to all who 
would obey its precepts. They told masters to give unto their ser- 
vants that whicli was jus-t and "equal — and told servants to be obe- 
dient to their masters, and thus they endeavoured, by prescribing 
the duty, to promote the comfort of both. "Servants," says the 
Apostle Peter, " be subject to your masters with all fear ; not only 
to the good and Q-entle" but also to the froward. For this is thank- 



[ 13 1 

worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, sufTering 
wrongfully. For wluit glory is it, if when ye are bi.ireled lor your 
faults ye shall take it patiently 1 but if when ye do well and siilFer 
for it ye lake it patiently, this is acceptable to God." The Ai)ostle 
well knew the nature of man, and he here supposes what might no 
doubt happen, that some persons," in a state olslavery and belonging 
to the Churcii, might have passionate or inconsiderate masters, 
who might buffet or beat them when they did not deserve such 
treatment ; but under these circumstances he recommends to them 
the exercise of such a meek and quiet spirit, even suffering luroiig- 
fully, as would do credit to their profession, and be acceptable to 
God : and as an encouragement to them to do so, he reminds them 
of their suffering Saviour, who had endured much more to save them 
from eternal suffering, tiian they would, under any circumstances, 
endure by any injustice to which they might be subjected. For 
even "hereunto were ye called," says he, "because Christ also 
suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his 
steps." But in the humble and submissive spirit they recommend, 
the Apostles neither intended to sanction or countenance any spe- 
cies of cruelly or injustice, but ordy to direct the course of conduct 
to be pursued when these should occur, as they might do in a world 
where so much latitude was given to the unruly passions of men. 
In numerous instances directions are given to masters to be kind 
to tiieir servants, and attentive to their comforts. " And ye, mas- 
ters," says Paul, in the 16th chapter of Ephesians, "do the same 
things to your servants, forbearing threatening, knt)wing that your 
master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with 
him." The solemn truth, tliat all men had a master in heaven, who 
would liereafter deal with them according to their moral characters, 
without regard to the civil conditions they had sustained in life, was 
well calculated to inijiress upon all a due sense of the importance 
of a faithful discharge of duty in every situation of life. The reci- 
procal duties of masters and servants are enjoined by all the Apos- 
tles, and those relationships seem to be recognized throughout all 
the sacred writings. 

In the early period of our Saviour's ministry u[ion earth, a Roman 
centurion ap[)lied to him to heal iiis servant who, he said, was sick 
of the palsy. The tender concern of the Roman soUiior for his ser- 
vant, and his faith in the power of the person he addressed, presents 
his character to us ill a most favourable point of vir.w Our Lord 
received his application kindly, saying, " I will come ami heal him." 
The centurion, probably surprised at the ready comb :>cension of the 
Saviour, and full of confidence in his power, inlimau'd tiiat he was 
not worthy he should come under Ins roof, but that li" ;;e wouhl bare- 
ly "speak the word,-'' the object he solicited woul ! be obtained: 
" For I," said he, " am a man under authority, havia^- ^M>ldiers under 
me, aiid I say to one go and hegoeth, and lo anolhc;- come and he 
cometli, undto my servant do this and he doclh it.' Thus imimat- 
ing his conviction that the Saviour had as absolute control over all 



[ 14 ] 

diseases, as he 'uid over his own servants. The Saviour commend- 
ed his faith, a:ui granted him the desired favour, but did not ques- 
tion Ins right U' iiold or own tlie servants of whom he spoke. 

During the v iiole period of our Saviour's ministry upon earth, he 
was surroundeii by tliose who were slave-holders — in one of his dis- 
courses with his disciples, we find him discriminating between ser- 
vants -Awd those in different situations: "Henceforth," says he, "1 
call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord 
doeth, but I have called you friends," &c. And we find that there 
were servants ainoiigst the crowds who heard the messages of 
Christ, and servants met the nobleman w^hose son Jesus had mi- 
raculously cured, and told him, "thy son liveth ;" and tkey, with the 
father and son, in this case, became believers in him whose mercy 
they experienced. There were servants, and probably many of 
them in that crowd, who went with Judas to arrest the Saviour, for 
when one of the disciples drew^a sword, and with it made a random 
blow, he "cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest;" and we 
afterwards find, in the 26th verse of the 18th chapter of John, that 
another servant o{ the high priest, who was kinsman to the one that 
had been wounded, charged Peter with being one of the disciples 
of Jesus, just before that crowing of the cock, whose sound pierced 
Peter to theli'^art; and there stood also at the same time other 
" servants with ihe officers, warming themselves" at the fire of coals 
that had been made. Yet v/e do not find that at this interesting 
period, or at auy time in the life of the Saviour, when he was sur- 
rounded by masters and servants, and when he well knew the con- 
dition of ail about him, that he ever pronounced it improper to own 
servants, or required those who did own, to liberate and discharge 
them. And I trust it will not be deemed irreverent to remark, that 
in his discourses we may confidently look for as correct opinions, 
and as pure morality, as we could rationally hope to find in any of 
the Abolition speeches or publications of the present day. 

The Apostle Paul not only recognized as legal the relationship 
of master and servant, but took great pains to restore a runaway 
slave to his owner. The account of this transaction is to be found 
in Paul's Epistle to Philemon. It seems that Philemon, who had 
been converted under Paul's preaching, was the owner of a slave 
named Onesimus, over wiiom, as the "law then stood, he had the 
power of life a; id death. In consequence of some misconduct for 
which he apprc bended punishment, or from some other cause, this 
slave ran away from his master, and fled to Rome, "a distance of 
several hundix d miles," where he accidentally heard Paul preach, 
and was conv( :ted. Paul of course became interested in his wel- 
fare, and knowing from his own confession, or in some other way, 
the manner in which he had left his master, he was desirous of send- 
ing him back, and seemed anxious that both master and servant 
should behave in a manner becoming their Christian profession. 
To insure One imus a favourable reception from his owner, Paul 
wrote the Ejiisile mentioned, whic'i has been much admired as a 



[ 15 ] 

prudent and masterly production (or the purpose iiifended, well cal- 
culated to restore the proper relations that had before exisled be- 
tween the parlies. St. Paul in this case coiiducled as becMine his 
Christian character — he knew ii to be improper lur Onosiii,.;b to ab- 
sent himself from his master's service without leave ; and he knew, 
also, that the maimer of his coming away might naturally excite 
a spirit of resentment which he was desirous to moderate — he there- 
fore induced the servant to return to his duty, and exerted himself 
to secure him a favourable reception from his owner. The latter. 
object could scarcely have been more effectually accomplished, 
that) by inforndng Philemon, that Onesimus had become a member 
of the same church with himself, and whom he might, therefore, in 
that respect, receive as a brother, without any r( linquishment of 
the services he had a right to claim from him as his servant, and 
which services he would, no doubt, under tlie change of circum- 
stances, demand with becoming tenderness and moderation. Had 
Paul been influenced by the spirit of some of our modern Abolition- 
ists, he would probably have disregarded the inaster's rights in this 
case, and have encouraged the slave to continue in a coutse of dis- 
obedience, and have aided in obstructing, rather than in promoling, 
his return to his duty. But Paul being a Christian, he knew what 
was becoming in Christians in all situations, and there can be no 
doubt but that both master and servant were made better by the 
Apostle's interference and advice. 

With these facts, and with a mnltilude of others that liiight be 
l)reseHted from the same source, will the Abolitionists i..-, ert that 
there is no sanction for slavery given in scripture, or will it not be 
necessary, before making such "assertions, to prove that all such 
facts should be expunged from the sacred records ? It will not, how- 
ever, be i)retended, though the scri|)ture sanctions slavery, that it 
any where commands it, and from the principle of brotherly love 
Avhich the sacred volume inculcates, no one will j)retend, I presume, 
that it would be a transgression of any of its rules, for the owners 
of slaves to emancipate them whenever they should deem it expe- 
dient to extend to them this privilege. But this is a matter resting 
altogether with those whose interests and whose feelings would be 
effected by such a proceeding. There exists no aulhorily in any 
body of men, so far as I know, to destroy the relationships existing 
between masters and servants in our country, without the volunta- 
ry consent of the master himself. 

* But the Abolitionists at the North openly avow a determination 
to effect an eventual emancipation of the" slaves in the Southern 
Slates at all events, and not to cease their exertions until this ob- 
ject is accomplished, whether their owners will consent to it or not. 
As an entering wedge on the subjf^ct, to be driven up accocding to 
the success attending their first eilbrts, thev propose an appliciilion 
to Congress, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and if 
this purpose is accomplished," they calculate upon more extended 
success. The petitions to Congress, tliose heretofore pivsented 



[ 16 j 

and those preparing, are predicated upon tiie exclusive authority 
vested in Congress for certain purposes over the District in ques- 
tion. But the authority of Congress does not in my view extend to 
this subject, even in Cohanbia. By the 16Lii clause of the 8th sec- 
tion of the first article of the Constitution of the United States it is 
declared, that Congress sliall have power "to exercise exclusive 
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceed- 
ing ten miles square) as may by cession of particular States, and 
the acceptance of Congress, become the seat*jof government of the 
United iSiates, and to exercise like authority over all places pur- 
chased, by consent of the legislature of the State in which the same 
shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals," &c. Under 
this clause from the cessions of the States of Maryland and Virginia 
the seat of government was established in the now District of Co- 
lumbia ; but the authority granted to Congress to legislate exclu- 
sively over the District, was an authority to exercise control over 
such matters as were the usual subjects of legislaiive regulation. 
It never was intended, when the ten miles square should be ceded 
to Congress, that the citizens within those limits should hold their 
property by a different teimre from that, by which the inhabitants 
without those limits held theirs. It was never intended that Con- 
gress should have the exclusive right of disposing of the possessions 
of individuals within those limits, any more than that they should 
have the right to dispose of the possessions of individuals in other 
sections of the country. The inhabitants of the District of Colum- 
bia have the same exclusive right to all their possessions — to their 
houses, lands, money, goods or slaves, as the individuals of any other 
part of the country have to theirs, and Congress could with as much 
propriety pass a law to deprive any and every citizen of that Dis- 
trict of his house, his land, or his money, as of his slaves — for every 
citizen has the same exclusive right to one species of property as to 
another. With what propriety, then, could Congress pass a law de- 
priving the citizens of that District of their slaves, any more than 
they could pass a law for robbing them in any other way 1 I saw it 
stated in one of the anti-slavery publications, that there were a num- 
ber of " human beings framed in the image of God," held in slavery 
by the goveriniient of Columbia who ought to be liberated, &c. 
Now, according to my idea, tiiere is not a single human being held 
in slavery in the District of Columbia, by the government: if the 
government ovv^n any slaves there, they may certainly liberate or 
sell them ; but to say the government hold them in slavery, because 
individuals ov/n them there, seems not to be a very correct mode 
of speaking — it is making the government liold in its hands the pro- 
perty of its citizens, and to be able to dispose of it at pleasure. The 
governnient no more hold the servants of tiie citizens of Columbia 
District in slavery, than it holds the carriages, the horses, and the 
funds of the people there in its power. Congress have the same 
kind of legislative authority over the pl.ices purchased by the con- 
sent of leg'slatUiCG of the respective States, for forts, arsenals, ma- 



[ n ] 

gazines, &c., Ihal tliey Iiave over the Di.slrict of Coluinhia ; and 
will it be pretended lliat tliey would be authorized to jtass a law, 
liberating the slaves that might be found in these various locations 
in the different States, without the consent of their owners? Does 
the power of exclusive legislation granted by the Constitution, con- 
vey the right of making a sei)aration between property and its own- 
ers in those Districts, wiUiout regard to the claims or rights of those 
by whom the property is lield? Congress can legislate for the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, but the robbery of citizens can surely be no ))art 
of legitimate legislation. If the slaves are ever liberated in the Dis- 
trict in question, it must be by the voluntary consenl of those who 
own them : if this consent is obtained, the question is there at an 
end — without it, their rights are not to be shaken. 

In many of the speeches and publications of the Abolitionists, 
some pretty highly drawn descriptions of the state of slavery in the 
Southern States are presented, which those living there would 
scarcely recognize as correct representations of their country. 
From some of these, a person who did not know better, might be 
inclined to suppose that there was a con.staiit feeling of hostility or 
oppression, encouraged or maintained between the slaves and their 
owners, and that this feeling, Aiiere ))ower was altogether on one 
side, and unconditional submission on the other, led often to acts of 
cruelty and injustice ; and cases in conHrmation of this idea are 
sometimes furnished by writers, who appear to have given a furlough 
to trutli, that the imagination might range unrestricted. That acts 
of cruelty may and do occur in countries where slavery exists, no 
rational individual will question — and that acts of cruelty may and 
do occur in places where slavery is not knovvn, is most certainly- 
demonstrated both by experience and testimony; but to consider 
occasional acts of crudltv as preserding a correct view of llie coun- 
try in general, where they happen, would be as unreasonable as it 
would be to consider a country perpetually inundated, because a 
traveller on a journey happened to ftill in with a mill pond in it. Let 
the writers who are so sensitive on this subject make a visit to one 
of the Southern States, in company with some moderate or exten- 
sive slave-liolder, who has been with his fiinuly on a summer excur- 
sion, and let him witness the cheeiful excitement, the undisguised 
satisfaction and heartfelt joy manifested by the slaves at home, as 
the family return to their dwelling — let him v>itriess the delight 
with which the old servants and the young ones meet their owners 
and their children, and let hiui then judge for himself, whether there 
are any of those hostile feelings, those inimical sensations on either 
side, whicli he might have previously suppo.^ed botli sides to have 
entertained. The fiict is, there is a "warm and sincere attachment 
very generally fell by the slaves for their owners, and there is an 
affectionate regard felt and manifested by their owners towards them 
— a mutual sort of friendly feeling naturally growing out of the re- 
lation they sustain towards each other, anil which tends to the com- 
fort of both. And, in numerous cases, neither the prosperity or hap- 



[ 18 ] 

piness of the slave would be promoted by an acceptance of eman- 
cipation, if the anti-slavery associations could furnish it. In many 
cases 1 have no doubt it would be rejected ; and, where it was not, 
the instances would not be low where the condition of the slave 
would be made worse by accepting it. 

I happened, a few years ago, to be passing from Providence, in 
Rhode Island, to Boston. I stopped for awhile on my way at a 
large, well-known and elegant establishment, some miles from the 
latter ])lace. I sat down while there in the front piazza to converse 
a short time with the landlord, a very pleasant and intelligent man, 
who, finding where I came from, made various remarks upon the 
different classes of population at the South and the North, and 
seemed inclined to believe that the actual condition of the slaves 
in the Southern States, was not correctly understood in the quarter 
where he lived. He remarked to me, that, a few days before, an 
elegant carriage with a genteel family stopped at his house — that 
the driver, a fine-looking blac k man, was very active in relieving 
his horses and taking them to she stable, and that when they were 
provided for he was brushing and cleaning his harness and putting 
every thing in the best order. He said he went and entered into 
conversation with him, and found he was from South Carolina; that 
his owners had been on a summer trip, were now returning home, 
and he with them. The huidlord asked him if he wished to get 
back to the country where men of his colour were generally slaves, 
and whether he would not rather remain in that quarter, if he might 
be permitted to do so, where he might enjoy the sweets of liberty. 
He replied, that he wanted to get back to Carolina with his master 
and mistress; he said he had seen "enough of the free negroes in 
Boston, and that he would be very sorry to, change places with any 
of them." He appeared, the landlord said, to look with contempt 
upon the free blacks in the places where he had been, and seemed 
to rejoice that he did not belong to that "poor sort o'class." This 
case, I presume, was not a solitary one — many a Southern servant, 
who witnesses the miserable condition of much of the free colour- 
ed population of the Northern cities, returns rejoicing to that servi- 
tude in the Southern country, which many of the Northern emancipa- 
tors would try to persuade liim was enormously oppressive. The 
Carolina carriage driver, it is probable, would have retained all his 
Southern preferences, even if one of the leading Abolitionists in 
New York had introduced him into his drawing room, and had him 
amused with the pleasant notes of the piano; for, in defiance of such 
allurements, he would have indulged the pleasing anticipations 
of again enjoying the less refined, but more acceptable vocal mu- 
gic, whicli he well knew might be expected on his master's pre- 
mises. 

An account was published some days ago in a Northern paper, of 
an application made for the admission of a little white girl to the 
alms-house in New York. On inquiry, it w^as found tl.at she had 
been from her infancy under t!ie charge or in possession of an un- 



•* [ 19 ] # 

feeling man, who had treated her like a dog — she was tlien a good- 
looking girl, about fourteen years of age ; and, after the applicant 
had secured her a place where he wished, and was about retiring, 
he offered her his liaiid in taking leave of her. She shrunk back 
from his offered hand — and the circumstance being noticed, led to 
some examination by the person she was left willi, when it was 
found that her h:ind and arm was much bruised; and, "Oh ! sir," said 
she, "my back is very sore where my master has l)eat me" — and 
on investigation, it was found that she was cut with a whip from 
the shoulders to the calves of her legs, and some of the stripes were 
inflamed and festered. AVhelher the person who had cluirge of 
this little defenceless female belonged to the Abolition Society 
or not, 1 have not heard — ii is likely enough that he did, for such 
differences between theory and practice, amongst sentimental phi- 
lanthropists, sometimes happen. Re this as it may, here was an in- 
stance of cruelly, barbarous, unfeeling cruelty, which it is believed 
has few equals m the slave-holding Slates, towards any portion of 
their coloured i)opulation. lUit should we from this instance un- 
dertake to judge of the usual conduct of those having wititc servants, 
or friendless ciiildren under their care in New York1 Should we 
from this vile instance pretend to estimate the humanity and feel- 
ing of that great and polished city, or of that flourishing state.? 
Surely no reasonable being would do any such thing ; and yet it 
would be just as rational and proper, to make up a general opinion 
from this solitary case, as it would be to judge of the usual t^-eatment 
of slaves at the'South, from some instances of abuse, which an abo- 
lilion writer might collect, or which, in the exercise of his iiigeimily, 
he might invent ; from such a statement, for instance, as was pub- 
lished not long sinc-t in an Eastern pai>er, as "An extract of a 
letter from Georgia." 

With the sul)ject of slavery at the South, it wouKl certainly be as 
well for our Nnrtliern brethren in no respect to interfere; this is 
a matter belonging exclusively to the Southern people, and let them 
have the management of it. Many erroneous views are entertain- 
ed abroad in relation to the condition of this portion of our popula- 
tion. A vast proportion of the slaves in the Southern country, en- 
joy as many of the comforts of life as are allotted to many day la- 
bourers in any other country, and many of them would gain but lit- 
tle, as to rearenjoyment, if'lhey were to change j)laces w ith their 
owners; and 1 am'not sure thai any great mistake would lie made 
by an individual, who, in forming an' estimate on this subject, should 
assert that the coloured population was, on the whole, the happiest 
class of our community. ' They work, to be sure, as labcuners do in 
other countries, and as Labourers must do if they expect to live any- 
where. " In the sweat of his brow," it was' decreed, that man 
should eat bread, till he returned to the "dust from whence he 
was taken ;" but the industry necessary to man's sui^port is favour- 
able to his enjoyment, and the labourer who, by his own exertions, 
is enable 1 to supply his own wants, has a reasonable slinre of all 



[ 20 ] 

that happiness vvliich can be enjoyed here below. While the in- 
dustrious individual will usually be virtuous and happy, the idle one 
will be vicious and miserable in every condition of life. The differ- 
ent grades in society are necessary in the arrangements of Provi- 
dence, and are in accordance v.ith his will; and we should no doubt 
make very erroneous calculations, in attempting to judge of the 
happiness of one class of the community by contrasting its condi- 
tion and mode of living with that of another class. In the Divine 
benevolence a due degree of enjoyment is allotted to all, and one 
class, or one individual finds much satisfaction in a station or pur- 
suit which would afford little comfort to others. The slaves in the 
Southern States, contrary to the opinion of many who never wit- 
nessed it, engage in their labours with readiness and spirit; they 
seldom require coersive measures to urge them to duty. They 
who witness their cheerfulness when they njeet together of an 
evening, or even when employed in their usual avocations, would 
not suppose they ever yielded to depression of spirit, or felt regret 
at the stations they occupied ; in fact, dissatisfaction and regret 
s seldom manifested by them. A mischievous fellow, getting 
amongst them and bent upon evil, might be iiistrumental in excit- 
ing restlessness and discontent, wiiich otherwise would have been 
wholly unknown, and might occasion mischief, which, without him, 
would never have happened. But is this to be wondered at, when 
we witness the discontent which an artful or designing politician is 
sometimes instrumental in producing in the ranks o^ freemen, even 
under the most perfect forms of civil government 1 That evil men 
may be successful in exciting mischief, the mobs which occur in 
populous cities conclusively demonstrate. 

However unfavourably a state of slavery may be viewed, still, as 
it exists in this country, it has advantages over some other condi- 
tions which may be found in all communities upon earth. The 
slave is indeed obliged to work for his support, while he has health 
and strength, as many others have to do; but when he is sick he is 
certain of being provided for ; he knows his owner will take care of 
him. If he has a wife and children, he is sure they will not suffer 
in consequence of his indisposition. During his ilfness he is suppli- 
ed with nourishment and nursed with care, and that without 
anxiety or expense to himself; and when he recovers his health, 
he does not find that he has contracted a debt which he is unable to 
pay, and he does not therefore fear a justice's warrant, nor is he 
troubled with bank notices; and he feels confident that there will 
be no diminution of his family supplies, in consequence of his having 
his earnings for awhile suspended. Still it may be said, and truly 
said, that this individual is not free — that is, that he has not that sort 
of political freedom which liis owner enjoys. But what if he had 
this, would he then be any better off? would this something, of 
which he may be told without duly understanding it, actually di- 
minish his toils, or increase his enjoyment? Less labour than he 
now performs would not put him in possession of the comforts with 



[ 21 ] 

which he is now surroiindecl, and more he would not be apt to per- 
form by way of providing against niisfortiine. To a hirge proiior- 
tion of the slave population, emancipation would not be a blessing; 
they would not live better than they now do in consequence of the 
change; they would not work less for a su|)port; or, such of them 
as did work less, would probably acquire habits which would occa- 
sion to them the change of a comfortable habitation for a jail or a 
workhouse. 

Intent as the abolitionists are upon effecting a change in the con- 
dition of the slave population of our country, they a|)pear to make 
very little inquiry, whether they are prepared for the change they 
propose, or would be benefitted by it; they seem to think that a set 
of beings, who have long been accustomed to a situation in which 
they are useful, and where they are satisfied, can at once be trans- 
ferred to a different station, without any of the reijuisite prepara- 
tions for the alteration. It is the civil condition of the slave alone 
which excites their solicitude — their more important interests they 
very little regard. Were they to urge upon the owners of slaves 
the importance of communicating to them moral and religious in- 
struction, and were this subject properly treated, it is very possible 
they might be instrumental in doing some good, while in their pre- 
sent course of conduct they are only doing mischief, and that con- 
tinually. For, wliat benefit have they yet done to the coloured pop- 
ulation of our country? they have made their condition worse even 
at the North, and seem likely to make it worse at the South. It is 
to them the outrages against the negroes in the Northern States 
are to be attributed ; they have occasioned tlie house-burnings, the 
beatings, and the robberies that tiie poor negroes have sustained 
there, and how much good can they be supposed capable of doing 
thein here? I do not say, or pretend, that the leading Abolitionists 
at the North liave themselves gone to the negro houses, jtulled them 
down, and destroyed their contents ; but I have no doubt that they 
have, by their imprudent proceedings, occasioned these evils — they 
have resulted from their injudicious intermeddling with matters 
which did not belong to them". In relation to the religious and moral 
instruction of the slaves, it will not be jireteiuled lh:it there is not a 
lamentable deficiency in tliis respect almost everywhere ; were 
proper exertions made to communicate to them the important truths 
which the Bible contains, there can be no doubt their moral cha- 
racters would ])e greatly improved. The Bible contains nothing 
but what it wouUrbe desirable that every class of beings in com- 
munity should be made acquainted with ; and the more perfectly 
those in a state of servitude were instructed in the truths and doc- 
trines of the word of God, the better would they be qualified for dis- 
charging the duties of the stations they might be called, in Iho order 
of Providence, to fill. The Bible contains the rule of conduct for 
masters and servants — it enjoins a just and proper course upon all 
orders of men, and forbids any violent attempts to overturn the set- 
tled order of society, in pursuit of any selfish purposes. And while 



[ 22 ] 

the great rule " of doing to others as we would that they should do 
to us," is acknowledged to be obligatory, it should be understood, 
that in its application a due regard should be paid to the situation of 
the parties on whom it is to operate. And if a servant under this 
view were to conclude, (as he would do if he reasoned justly,) that 
if lie were a master he would not incline to have his rights invaded 
by his servant — and if a master were to reflect, that if he were a 
servant he would be unwilling to be subjected to injustice or cruel- 
ty ; — the reasoning of eacli would lead to a correct course of con- 
duct in both. It would tend to make each render to the other that 
which was right according to their respective situations. Each 
would be required to do to the other, what the other might be ex- 
pected to do to him, were there a change made in their respective 
stations. It is highly probable, that the want of duly discriminat- 
ng between the civil and moral condition of slaves, has, in many in- 
stances, occasioned erroneous impressions on the subject of their re- 
ligious instruction. All instruction communicated to them should 
have an exclusive reference to their moral improvement — with their 
civil condition their teachers should in no respect interfere : it is 
from the evil of sin they should aim to deliver them, and from its 
bitter consequences to secure them ; and while this object is faith- 
fully adhered to and regarded, much good might be effected. The 
consolations of the Gospel reach individuals in every situation of 
life ; its directions are not confined to any one class exclusively — 
its blessings are freely offered to all. The Saviour died to redeem 
the fallen race of man — through his merits and righteousness and 
the influence of his regenerating spirit, salvation can be obtained 
by the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the bond and the 
free. As the situation of servants necessarily circumscribes their 
spiritual privileges, their owners ought to fee! it a duty to provide 
for their proper instruction, for the more intimately they become 
acquainted with the great truths of the Gospel, the more will their 
moral characters be elevated. The inevitable tendency of the Gos- 
pel is to make men better in every condition of life. And it will not 
be questioned, I presume, but that all the important truths of the 
Gospel may be orally communicated to those who are incapable of 
reading them. The first salutary effect of the Moravian efforts 
amongst the degraded Esquimaux Indians, was produced by the 
mere reading to them the account of the Saviour's suffering and 
death. In the same way may all the important truths of the sacred 
volume be communicated. The Abolitionists, I know, are often free 
in their censures upon those regulations in tlu". slave-holding States, 
which prohibit the slaves from being taught to read. But as fa- 
vourable a subject as this is for declamation, I would ask, what pro- 
portion of the slave pojudation of our country could, under any cir- 
cumstances, be made to be a reading people 1 But what is of more 
importance to ask, what proportion of them, if all conld read, would 
confine their readitig to hooks that would improve their morals as 
well as ijiform their minds ? If those who could read, would read 



.rr 



[ 23 ] 

the Bible only, or books which teiuleU lo illustrate its truths, read- 
ing would tlien be beneficial to thein, and to those amongst whom 
they resided. But if they were to read, as they no doubt would be 
invited to do, those publications which the anti-slavery presses would 
furnish, their reading would then only tend to make them restless 
and discontented, and would probably .seduce them to a course that 
v^^ould ensure their ruin. A consideration of the dilficulty of keep- 
ing improper publications from those who could read them, has no 
doubt had its influence in producing many regulations on this sub- 
ject. When we consider the misciiief done in many communitie? 
o{ freemen by the circulation amongst them of vile and licentious 
publications, is it to be wondered at, that an opinion should be en- 
tertained, that a capacity for XQAiWwg similar production.^ might not 
be beneticial to a still more ignorant class 1 The Abolitioidsts them- 
selves occasion restrictions on this subject, which they afterwards 
take pleasure in condemning. 

It ought to be the desire of all benevolent individuals, and of all 
political economists, to be instrumental in producing the greatest 
amount possible of liuman hai)piness ; but such an object would be 
very little promoted by the liberation of the coloured poi)ulation of 
the f50uthern States \v\W\ their present acquirements, either as re- 
lated to themselves, or those amongst whom they resideil. As an 
evidence of this, look at the free negroes in those sections of coun- 
try where their numbers are comparatively few. Have their cha- 
racters been elevated as their civil privileges have been increased? 
Have they been found generally very desirable members of the 
communities in which they live 1 What is the proportion of crime 
committed by them, as estimated by their numl)ers, when com- 
pared with the white population amongst whom they reside, or with 
the slave population in any of the slave-holding States? I verily be- 
lieve there are fewer crimes of the more atrocious grades commit- 
ted by the slave population of the Southern States, taken altogether, 
than there are committed by an eipial number of other coloured 
people wherever they may be located ; and I do not know but I 
might safely say, there weie fewer of the higher order of offences 
committed by them, than would be found to be committed by an 
equal number of individuals in almost any other country whatever. 
There are fewer murders, for instance, occurring amongst the slaves 
in the slave-liolding States, than are committed amongst an equal 
number of individuals almost anywhere. Let those who doubt this 
examine the court records from* abroad, or of our own land, em- 
bracing a population of more than two millions of persons, and com- 
pare the criminal convictions there, with those which take place 
amongst our slave population, and see in wliose favour the compa- 
rison will i)reponderate. It is not int'.'Mded by these remarks to in- 
timate that slaverv is particularly fivourable to morality, but it is 
intended to sav that there has "been, and continues to be, a vast 
deal of misapprehension on this subject, especially amongst those 
Abolitionists who suppose, or pretend, that in the slavery of the 



L 24 ] 

South, there is a continued succession of crimes, as well as of in- 
justice and cruelty. I have very little doubt but that there are now- 
fewer crimes committed amongst the slave population of the South- 
ern States, than there should be in any brief period amongst the 
same individuals if they vrere made free — the change in their cir- 
cumstances would not proinote their industrious habits, and would, 
in all probability, occasion a resort to modes of living very little in 
accordance with tlieir moral advancement. 

I saw publislied a few days since, in a Northern paper, an account 
t-i meeting of the citizens of Palmyra, a town in the Slate of New 
York, for the purpose of taking measures for " ridding that place of 
the vagabond negroes," by whom it was alledged "to be infested to 
auralarming extent, and "for devising some efficient and legal means 
ab security against their nocturnal depredations and demoralizing 
"cfluence ;" and in the proceedings of the meeting it was declared, 
if that they had been seriously annoyed by these people," who they 
pronounce to be, " with few exceptions, lazy, dissolute, pilfering va- 
gabonds, generally refusing to labour for adequate compensation, 
not depending on their nigiitly thefts and the poor laws for their 
means of subsistence:" and they request "the owners of houses 
which they occupy to expel them forthwith, and hereafter to refuse 
to receive them as tenants." This meeting was held, and these de- 
clarations were made, by a part of the inhabitants of the State of 
New York, at the very time another part of them were sending their 
vile publications to this quarter, in order to effect a change which 
might convert the honest and industrious servants here, into such 
"dissolute and pilfering vagabonds," as they resolve to expel from 
their territories and exclude from tlieir houses. It can only be ne- 
nessary to state this fact, to enable every reader to form a correct 
opinion of it. If a {ew^ free negroes were found so offensive and 
troublesome to the citizens of New York, why should they be anx- 
ious to increase their numbers, where they have no certainty of 
being more acceptable or more orderly 1 Why not leave the colour- 
ed population here in quiet enjoyment of the comforts with which 
they are provided, and to that salutary employment which pre- 
serves them from the vices and debasement which are the usual 
consequences of idleness? 

The efforts of the Abolitionists, it is clear, are not calculated to 
promote the interests, or advance the comfort of the slaves or their 
owners ; but if they did either, what right have they to intermed- 
dle with this subject at al' ? what right have they to send their pub- 
lications or their emissarie here to promulgate doctrines calculated 
to excite discontent in any portion of our co^nmunity ? If let alone, 
the slave population of our country would quietly discharge their 
duties, and be satisfied with their situation. The'cultivation of the 
earth requires and must have labourer^ — but those labourers are 
nowhere without their com fort-, and, I have little doubt, if an ac- 
curate estimate could be mfnie, hut that there would be found to be 
as much actual enjoyment :inu)ngst the cultivators of the earth at 



[ 25 ] 

the South, as there would be amongst an equal number of labourers 
in any other places— there would be found as few individuals 
amongst them suffering for the necessaries of life, and as few 
wives and children in want. How often do we read of tunudtuous 
proceedings in foreign countries amongst lai)ourers from distresses 
experienced for want of employment, and how serious are some- 
times the evils of these tumults? But in the slave-holding States 
these difficulties do not occur — the labour that is required is per- 
formed as directed, and the industrious slave, having executed his 
task for his master, has often a part of the day to work for himself, 
and has a piece of land assigned him to work on, and he often re- 
alizes an ample reward for his industry. When there happens to 
be little work to do, the slave is not troubled in consequence of it ; 
and if the result of his labour proves less profitable than was hoped 
for, the slave is not incommoded thereby — his wants are supphed, 
and he is satisfied. Where is the necessity, then, for strangers to 
intermeddle with his condition 1 and what right have they to in- 
trude, like the serpent into the garden of Eden, to disturb the 
peace of those, who, without such interference, would enjoy unin- 
terrupted tranquillity? The slaves themselves are not, and cannot 
be benefitted by such intrusions, and they are usually far from de- 
siring them. As one amongst other evidences of this, I will men- 
tion the following circumstance, which I have understood recently 
occurred at no great distance from this place. A respectable 
planter had given permission to a white individual to hold religious 
meetings with his coloured people on his premises at pleasure. 
This individual, instead of attending to his proper duty, had the im- 
prudence to address his audience on the subject of their civil condi- 
tion, without an effort to communicate to them moral instruction. 
The negroes being unwilling to listen to what they knew could not 
benefit them, one of them went to his owner and informed him of 
the course pursued. The gentleman told him that he must be mis- 
taken, that the man he spoke of would not make such a return for 
the indulgence afforded liim. "Well," said his informer, "you come 
to-nigh(, massa, where loe hah merting, and you hear for 1/01/ rse/f." 
The gentleman accordingly took two friends with him, and placed 
hi r.self in a situation to become acquainted with all that transpired, 
and, to ills great surprise, he heard the speaker delivering a jiretty 
well finished aboliiion discourse to his people. Without any apcdo- 
gy for the little interruption he occasioned, he with his friends en- 
tered the house and took the orator, in the midst of his labours, un- 
ceremoniously, into custody ; he told the negroes (hat he hoped 
their speaker intended todothem good, but as he had forgotten the 
purpose for which he was admitted there, and was attempting to 
lead them into mischief, he would reward him according to his me- 
rits. He therefore adopted prompt measures for impressi/if: upon 
the speaker what he supposed would be a seasonable lesson of in- 
struction for his future course of conduct, and then dismissed him, 
with directions to make no more visits to that quarter. He accord- 



[ 26 ] 

ingly made an expeditious retreat from the civilities lie was receiv- 
ing, and, in all probability, was ready to complain of the little coun- 
tenance shown to his attempts to corrupt those he pretended to in- 
struct. And is it to be supposed that men of this stamp, when once 
known, are to have free access to the plantations of those whose con- 
fidence they thus abuse ] Or is it surprising that, when facts of this 
kind are disclosed, that even missionary services to the coloured 
population should sometimes be received with suspicion and caution? 
The conduct of the Abolitionists of the North, in their efforts to 
distribute their vile publications through the Southern country, is as 
little justifiable as was that of the individual just mentioned. They 
manifest an unwarrantable inclination to interfere with our domes- 
tic relations, and their conduct must have an injurious influence 
upon the intercourse between themselves and our citizens. It is 
calculated to occasion unpleasant feelings towards many who may 
come here for business or for pleasure — particularly may it create 
suspicions against persons coming here to solicit subscriptions for 
literary works, or for the delivery of sucli, after they have been 
subscribed for — and those suspicions once entertained, would be 
found seriously embarrassing to those against whom they existed. 
And why should inconveniences of this kind be submitted to, in or- 
der that a few visionary fanatics might be indulged in their extra- 
vagance and folly 1 Their conduct, also, while it tends to interrupt 
social intercourse, has a tendency to retard the instruction which 
otherwise many persons might be inclined to have communicated 
to their domestics. For, who would take the trouble of teaching his 
servants to read, when it was known that, after he had accomplish- 
ed this, a set of unprincipled beings would watch for opportunities 
of placing in their hands publications not intended to improve their 
moral characters, but to corrupt their hearts, and to destroy their 
usefulness ? Already have the Abolitionists done more injury to 
our coloured population, as relates to their improvement, than they 
can readily repair, even with the aid of Mr. Thompson, from Eng- 
land, who seems to have becoDie somewhat conspicuous amongst 
them. In relation to this individual, it may not be improper to re- 
mark, that, as a stranger in our laud, he seems to be more than po- 
litely officious in matters he has no business to meddle with. One 
would suppose that ordinary prudence would suggest to a person 
Just landed upon our shores, that the slave question was one which 
it belonged to our citizens to manage for themselves — but Mr. 
Thompson seems to imagine that he can communicate new in- 
formation to them on this subject, and that the warmth of his elo- 
quence is required to enkindle a new glow of fervour in relation to 
it. With the views he entertains, it may be a question, whether he 
has not committed an error in the choice of the section of country 
in which to exercise his powers — for, from what we have seen, 
there seems to be no deficiency of zeal in this matter at the North, 
and it would appear, therefore, that it would be at the South where 
his eloquence might most appropriately be employed. To make 



[ 27 ] 

speeches in New York or Bosloi!, jibout shivery in t^oiith Cmolina 
or Georgia, would seem to be doing nothing that could not be ef- 
fected without his aid. If he is desirous of changing the urganiza- 
tion of society at the South, to the South let him come — iet him 
here unfold his commission and deliver liis message, and 1 have no 
doubt he will have (kmonslrable evidence tliat his labours have not 
been altogether without effect. He would, no doubt, receive due 
attention from our citizens; and they would, in all probability, do ra- 
ther more justice I.) him, than he has in any ol his remarks ever 
yet done, or ever will do, to them. 

Notwithstanding the laboured representations ()f such iiilermed- 
dlers as Thompson and others, it is highly j)r()bable that the ne- 
groes here are actually better off than if they were free, and those 
from abroad better off, too, than if they had never come from Africa. 
That they are better olTthan if they were free, may be estimated 
by comi)aring the condition of the free negroes at the North, or in 
this quarter, with that of the slaves, audit would probably be found, 
with an occasional exception in both classes, that the slave popu- 
lation, as to comfort, usefulness and moral character, would have 
a decided preference. And as relates to Africa, it is well known 
that the negroes there are grossly depraved, corrupt, sup( -liiious 
and cruel — and utterly ignorant of those great tnilhs with which 
their eternal interests are connected ; and though their instruction 
here is acknowledged to be limited, yet none of them become, or 
continue to be, idolaters here ; almost all of them have opportuni- 
ties of hearing the messages of salvation, and it any of them be- 
come eminently pious. I know of more than one instance of an 
African negro, who, being asked if he was not sorry he was brought 
to this country, replied, " O, no, massa; I tank God I been brought 
here — if I had stay in my own country I would never hear about 
Christ. I got to die some time, but if I had not been come liere I 
should not ktiow what would become of me after I been deatl — but 
I now know I have a blessed Saviour I can trust to. Suppose my 
bodysufler sometimes here, what consequence is that, my soul is 
free, — tliere is one God for slave and for freeman — one Saviour for 
all — and all who trust in him and do their duly here, will be happy 
when done witli this world. ()! I bless God th'at I been brought to 
this country." This was tiie simi)le declaration of a poor African 
here, who, contented with his condition upon earth, was faithfid in 
the discharge of his duty, and who felt confident of everlasting hap- 
piness when his earthly course was completed. 

It has not been contenqilated, as far as I kimw, in the attempts 
to trample upon the rights of the Southern people, to make com- 
pensation for any slaves projiosed to be wrested from them, be- 
cause this would induce an expense tliat could not readily be pro- 
vided for. But this diflicultv, it is thought, may be overcome by a 
sort of refined robbery; that is, by taking the serva; t from the con- 
trol and service of his owner, ami turning him Un -2 in society, in 
defiance of those constitutional provisions, by v.iiicli it has hereto- 



[ 28 ] 

fore been sU()posed this species of property was protected. It 
would be needless to remark upon the j)al[>able injustice of such a 
course. Tliai circumstances may occur when a private injury must 
be submitted to for the public good, will not be questioned — as, for 
instance, when a fire is raging which threatens an extensive con- 
flagration, a d welling house or otiier building in the range of the 
destructive element, may be blown up, or pulled down, without 
any previous negotiation on the subject, for the exigency of the 
case recpiires and justifies the proceeding ; but no such necessity 
exists in the slave case, and it would be as reasonable to desire the 
passage of a law to deprive ship owners of their vessels, to be turn- 
ed adrift on the ocean, as to desire the passage of a law to deprive 
slave owners of their servants, to be turned adrift upon land. A 
desire, it would seem, as unnatural to entertain, as it would be un- 
reasonable to attempt to execute. 

Were there no slaves in the Southern States, and were the ques- 
tion now to be submitted to tlie inhabitants of them, wdiether slavery 
should be introduced there or not, it is highly probable the decision 
would be against the expediency of admitting it. But slavery is al- 
ready here — not brought here by the present generation of slave- 
holders, but by those, or the ancestors of those who are now op- 
posed to it — and it is so incorporated with the state of society here, in 
all its ramifications, that, whether it will ever be exterminated, is a 
question of no easy solution. That it cannot, and that it will not 
be removed by the efforts of the Northern anti-slavery or abolition 
societies, may be considered as unquestionably certain. Their im- 
prudent course will tend rather to retard than advance the object 
at which they aim; and their expectations of a speedy execution of 
their purposes, are altogether extravagant and preposterous. From 
an early period of the settlement of our country, slave labour has 
been employed in producing the valuable staple articles of the 
Southern States, and in advancing their prosperity. More than 
half in value of all the foreign exports of the whole United States is, 
at this moment, the produce of slave labour, and when to this is added 
the vast amount for interior consumption, and for the coasting com- 
merce, is it to be supposed that a sudden check can be put to that 
industry which produces such important results'? It maybe said, 
possibly, that il is not intended by the Abolilionists to check this in- 
dustry. But would not the success of their efforts effectually ar- 
rest it, by weakening the spring, or destroying the impulse which 
gave to it all its activity? Is it supposed that the consummation of 
their desires would not produce such a deleterious change in the or- 
der of society here, as seriously to affect the happiness and prosper- 
ity of all classes ? The labour usually required at the South must, at 
all events, be performed, and as no sagacity could speedily substitute 
free labour for slave labour, it is very'evident that the withdrawal of 
the latter could not fail of being extensively injurious. Who could 
calculate the injury that might be done to any labouring district, if 
all the labourers in it, who had uniformly felt itaduty to perform the 



[ 29 ] 

work assigned them, without even the mental elTort of j)lanning 
it, were, bv a sudden change of circumstances, left to |)lan and 
execute at their own pleasure — to do any thing or ntnliing, as 
inclination might direct? The results of such a transfunnation 
may be eagily imagined. 

That there will be no immediate change, therefore, in the or- 
ganization of society at the South, may be considered as abso- 
lutely certain ; but that there is a meliorating inlluence pervad- 
ing the whole system of slavery, need not be doubted. 'J'o what 
changes this may eventually lead, cannot now be deternjined ; 
but whatever these may be, they must be brought about by the 
slave owners themselves, without any foreign interference. And 
any legislative action on the subject, must be through the legis- 
lative authority of the States where slavery prevails, under spe- 
cial instructions from the citizens of those States — the exclu- 
sive control of this subject having been '' reserved to the States, 
respectively, or to the people thereof^' — no ])ower over it has 
ever been delegated by them to any olhcr authority whatever. 

As relates to the evil of slavery, of which much has been said, 
I will take the liberty to remark, that w<? are so limited in our 
capacities, so incapable of taking into view the whole system of 
things, that we cannot at all times be certain, that what we would 
call evil, may not be necessary in the airangenunts of Provi- 
dence for the accomplishment of his pur])Oses. Poverty, for in- 
stance, is usually deemed an evil, and such it no doubt is to many 
who experience its inconveniencies. But it is an evil which has 
always existed, and always ;/??/if, because we have the highest 
authority for saying it^alvvays will exist in our world. Our Sa- 
viour said to his disci^|)les and others, ^^ the poor you have al- 
ways with you," intimating that there would ever be a class of 
poor persons^ towards whom acts of benevolence might be ex- 
tended. Providence, however, could so have directed, as to 
the capacities br prospei-ity of individuals in life, that there 
should not have been any poor in the land : but it was other- 
wise ordered, and the poor will always make an interesting part 
of the society of men. But the condition of poverty often calls 
into exercise the most exemplary virtues, and prei)ares those 
who experience its privations for the most durable riches and 
never-ending joys. From the most abject poverty and suffering, 
Lazarus was transported to those realms of bliss, from wliich the 
wealthy individual was excluded — at whose gate he had lain, lit- 
tle regarded except by dogs. And none can be at a loss to de- 
termine whose condition was most desirable when b th had made 



[ 30 ] 

an exchange of worlds. An intermixture of good and evil is al- 
lotted to evei y mortal here below, and it is only those in whose 
favour the good is found to preponderate, that are esteemed for- 
tunate. Good and evil were so combined in that Tree of Know- 
ledge of whose fruit our first parents were forbiddenUo eat, that 
the bitter evidence of the admixture they wofully experienced, 
when, in disobeying the divine command, they found the evil 
they did not seek, and lost the good they had previously possess- 
ed ; and from that period to the present day,fnone of their de- 
scendants have been exempt from a share of these two qualities, 
and it is to infinite wisdom we are to look, so to overrule the one, 
as to secure to us a higher degree of the other. In every coiv 
dition of life there is evil, because in every condition there is sin, 
and no one condition need to be considered as exclusively evil. 
Solomon says, ^'all the days of the afflicted are evil," but true 
as this may be, we know, from higher authority, that afllictions are 
often made '^ to work together for good to those who are exer- 
cised thereby.'' 

As all the circumstances connected with our earthly existence 
are under the direction of infinite wisdom, who can say that such 
a condition as slavery might not have been deemed necessary to 
the complete organization of society, and may not therefore be 
classed amongst those blessings of the social state from which im- 
portant good is ultimately to result? Such a condition, under 
different modifications, we know, has existed in every age of the 
world, and we do not know that it will not continue even through 
the millenial period ; for it will be i\\t moral change in the cha- 
racters of men, and not their change of civil condition, which 
will constitute the happiness of that period, and continually in- 
crease it. It must be left to the retributions of a future state to 
produce equality in tb.e conditions of men. In this probationary 
state inequalities will and must exist, the necessities of the so- 
cial state demand and require them. Eut however various the 
conditions of men. all situations have their appropriate enjoy- 
ments ; and of thes'j enjoyments we may rest assured that ser- 
vants are not without their share. And why, then, should any 
efforts be made to excite discontent amongst those who feel pos- 
sessed of comforts suited to their stations, and who are in no re- 
spect desirous of change ? Why labour to make those restless and 
uneasy, who, if not interfered with, would quietly perform their 
duties and be contented? What can excuse the insolence that 
would intrude upon the domestic concerns of another, for the pur- 
pose of creating discord, where all would otherwise be quietness 



[ 31 ] 

and peace? The condition of the coloured population in the 
Southern States, is better, far better than the condition of tliou- 
sands, and tens of thousands of individuals to be found in various 
nations of Europe, and better than that of millions in the *' ce- 
lestial Empire" of China, who may imagine themselves to be 
highly privileged. I saw, not long since, an account of a num- 
ber of Turkish youths, who were chained two and two together, 
and marched into one of the towns of their master, to be there 
enrolled in the lists of the army. They had been unceremoni- 
ously forced from their families and friends, and were compel- 
led to join the ranks of those who were destined to be shot at; 
and they will never probably return to the embraces of those 
relatives and friends from whom they have thus been separated 
— but will either be killed in battle, or kept in military vassal- 
age during the remainder of their lives. And how many events 
strongly resembling this, may be found in the occurrences of 
other foreign nations ? And are not the slaves here far better 
off than these individuals? Have they not more domestic com- 
fort, and far more safety and ease than thousands of individuals 
abroad, whose laborious lives procure for them but a scanty and 
precarious subsistence? Let our Abolitionists, then, turn their 
attention to the white sufferers abroad, and avoid all inter- 
meddling with the coloured people of our own country. There 
will be no difliculty in finding more actual distress and degrada- 
tion in foreign lands, than they will ever be able to discover in 
all the slave-holding States of the Union. 



